The Top 10 Most Shared Ads Of Euro 2016

As we gear up for the start of the semi-finals of the European Championships this evening, we thought we’d take a look and see which adverts are taking home our coveted ‘most shared’ trophy.

If you’ve been following the Euros closely, you can probably guess which ad is scoring big on our charts. Nike’s ‘The Switch’, which features Christiano Ronaldo, is by far the most shared ad of Euro 2016.

The competition has been fierce, though, and the other contenders on our list were all impressive in their own way. So without further ado, let’s run down the 10 most shared ads of Euros 2016, along with some insight on some of the ads using data from our ShareRank algorithm.

Nike scored another winner this year with its Freaky Friday-inspired ‘The Switch’. The spot tops our chart for number of shares, and it’s no surprise, given that it had the highest prevalence of intense emotions (27%) of all the ads we tested.

The ad resonated with a range of demographics, but managed to get an even wider range of reactions out of young males, including nostalgia, probably triggered by the ‘kickabout’ scenes early in the spot.

Not everyone was as thrilled as this, though, with some viewers reporting feelings of confusion, contempt and disgust, perhaps a reaction to the rather polarising figure of Cristiano Ronaldo.

This emotional rollercoaster seems to have had the desired effect, as ‘The Switch’ was the most likely ad to make viewers want to find out more, with 35% reporting increased interest, as well as encouraging higher than average purchase intent at 34%.

2. Volvo V90 – ”Prologue” feat. Zlatan Ibrahimović

61,421 shares

Volvo’s ‘Prologue’ spot, featuring Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, is a cinematic spot that draws parallels between the brand’s heritage and the footballer’s. The message is simple, the places you go and the things you do are what define you, rather than where you’re from or where you’re born.

It’s a pretty perfect marriage of inspirational sporting messaging and powerful automobile imagery, and it beats the Swedish national drum in a way that clearly fired up fans at home and abroad.

3. Paddy Power – Scotland’s Euro 2016 anthem

47,895 shares

Scotland may have not made the Euros, but that did not stop controversial bookies Paddy Power creating an anthem for them.

Paddy Power has created a number of ads that have divided opinion – and this was no exception. ‘Scotland’s Anthem’ was the second most intrinsically shareable ad that we tested overall, evoking intense hilarity among 9% of the people who watched it, particularly viewers aged 45-54, who were twice as likely to find it funny than average. However, not everyone was laughing. The ad’s sense of humour did not go down well with young males aged 18 to 34. Only 3% of them found it intensely hilarious, while 13% felt contempt for the ad.

Brand and business metrics could also have been better. ‘Scotland’s Anthem’ had the lowest intent to find out more (25%) and purchase intent (25%) percentages of any ad we tested. It was also the ad most likely to lower viewers’ opinions of the brand.

4. Lufthansa – Everybody’s Fanhansa

40,645 shares

German airline Lufthansa poked fun at England fans in its ad for Euro 2016. But while the ad certainly had quite a few people in the office chuckling (including myself), not everyone found the German ad’s sense of humour funny. Among the ads we tested, Lufthansa elicited one of the weakest emotional responses from viewers. Unsurprisingly, hilarity was the key response, but only 8% of viewers felt this intensely enough to actually laugh out loud. This was even lower among 35 to 54-year-olds (5%).

However, the ad certainly had its die-hard fans, particularly among viewers aged 55 and over, who found it the most shareable of the ads we tested. It also had the greatest increase in brand favorability of any brand tested at 37% – over a third higher than the UK norm and way ahead of the nearest Euro 2016 rival, Licor Beirao (both 27%).

Mars’ patriotic ‘#Believe’ features an English invasion of France from both players and fans. And we wouldn’t be surprised if the ad had sparked chocoholic shoppers to invade their local supermarkets and newsagents.

‘#Believe’ had the highest purchase intent of any ad tested, at 42%. However, of course this is largely due to the fact that chocolate bars are a lot less expensive than plane tickets, designer trainers or fancy headphones. The ad resonated particularly strongly with men aged 35-44, evoking strong feelings of happiness, pride and hilarity.

7. Carlsberg – Your Seat For A Euro Seat

16, 135 shares

You probably could not give away tickets to watch the England football team these days. But that’s exactly what heavily-disguised Sky commentator Chris Kamara did in Carlsberg’s ad “Your Seat For A Euro Seat”.

Anyone nice enough to give Kammy, not exactly convincingly dressed up as an old man, their Tube seat was rewarded with tickets to watch the Three Lions’ opening match against Russia.

And using a well-known and well-loved football personality certainly helped to drive intense feelings of warmth, hilarity and surprise among viewers.

8. Licor Beirao – We’re Sorry Harry Kane

14,993 shares

Sorry may be the hardest word to say in the English language, but it’s one of the most powerful. Just ask little-known Portuguese brand Beirao, who scored big with its apology to England striker Harry Kane (Of course, Harry has a lot more to be sorry for now).

No other Euros ad elicited such a strong cognitive response (mostly surprise at the quirky concept from an unfamiliar brand).

However, the percentage of people who would recommend the product after watching the ad was the lowest of any ad tested at 14%. This is probably due to the fact that Licor Beirao is a little-known brand in the UK, so people could be less inclined to recommend it. However, the description of “Portugal’s finest liqueur” appears to have piqued some viewers’ interest, as 33% said they wanted to find out more about the product.

9. Edeka – Das EDEKA Anfeuern

9,973 shares

Yes, it’s that Edeka. And no, the ad doesn’t feature a tragic old man with a rather wicked sense of humour. ‘Anfeuren’ (anthem for all us non-Germans) is a tongue-in-cheek ad that fires on all cylinders, featuring a group of very excited German fans who might not quite realise where they are.

The ad is certainly memorable, and definitely patriotic, but it also shows off the supermarket brand’s now-trademark comic sensibilities- as shown by the fan voraciously eating a bratwurst.

Beats By Dre has a pretty strong track record for creating memorable sporting ads, working with athletes like Serena Williams and former England Rugby captain Chris Robshaw in the past. Its Euros 2016 spot, set to Prodigy’s ‘Firestarter’, has no shortage of star-power, featuring man-of-the-hour Harry Kane and other soccer superstars.

The ad was the most shareable spot we tested for males aged 35-44, evoking emotions such as amazement and exhilaration, but in fact was the least shareable ad for viewers aged 55+, causing confusion among nearly half of them.

Although the social motivations for sharing were around average for most audiences, the males 35-44 with whom the content resonated particularly well would share ‘B [READY]’ to connect with friends over a common interest, reporting ‘shared passion’ as their motivation at a level twice as high as the UK norm (15%).

Unruly recently launched the Euros private marketplace, which allows advertisers targeting football fans during the European Championships to easily access those audiences programmatically via UnrulyX.